Getting Ready for the Big Week!

Last summer when we found out Travis and Cami were getting married in San Diego in December, my family decided to make it a family reunion (more about that later). That meant all the reunion planning and Christmas planning had to be completely done by December 17th, when everyone started arriving.

There were tons of cookies to bake, deliver, and freeze for the reunion and groom's dinner.

There were food baskets to make for all of the rooms. (I figured everyone was traveling from so far, and some had little kids, food is always a comfort!)

And we began to decorate the house and keep this as a reminder of what all the hustle and bustle was all about!

Had to get the Christmas cards out.

These were the bags full of goodies we put in the food baskets. I think all of these got eaten.

And I bought a zillion cans of my favorite hot chocolate mix to give out to friends and neighbors. There wasn't time for much baking, unfortunately. (And notice the cans are on top of the huge box of family reunion shirts!) Jayce wanted to make sure we got a can for ourselves.

All the cans ready to deliver...

When Jayce found out Loraya had a Christmas tree in her room for her very own, he asked if he could have one. We had an extra tree in the garage, so we put it up in his room. It was way fun! It's bigger than Caitlin and Billy's tree. I think we should trade them.

All the preparation was worth it. The reunion was a success! The wedding was wonderful! And Christmas was dreamy! I just wish it was all a little slower so I could have savored it!

The Greatest Gift

Cindy Alfonso, Caitlin's third grade teacher, brought this to me today. She had saved it for all these years since Caitlin was in her class. She has it made into an overhead for an example of the type of letter she expected her students to write.

It was a fun surprise to receive today!

Caitlin is the GREATEST gift! 

Getting ready for Christmas

Each year I look so forward to getting the house all ready for Christmas. And I forget how much work it is! Mark had to take all the boxes down so we could get started. It's been four days and we still can't get the car back in the garage.

On Sunday, the YW brought Dad a gingerbread house. Jayce made quick work of taking off all of the nerds and other candy he liked.

Just getting started...we have a long way to go.

 Notice Cody texting while Jayce is untangling lights. You can tell I was the one who took down the decorations last year because the lights are tangled. Mark always has them in neat rolls with zip ties. So, we're a little different!

 Jayce insisted we have hot chocolate after decorating the tree. It was the Starbucks hot chocolate I bought from Costco and it wasn't very good. I'm going to take it back. And Jayce made a mess! But he does have a cute mustache.

 Jayce just decided to send off his letter to Santa. I hope it arrives in time. Too fun!

I am busy trying to finish up Christmas preparations, and all of my finals. Then I will focus on the Barrow family reunion next week! We are so blessed!

Thanksgiving Week!

Jayce woke up on Wednesday morning covered from head to toe in a rash! I called the doctor and took him in on the way to the airport to get Derek. It was an allergic reaction to an antibiotic he was on. Needless to say, they switched his medicine and we'll avoid Amoxicillin in the future.

Derek was finally home!. Here was the welcoming committee!!

Pennie was very excited to see him! Derek looks skinnier. I don't think he eats enough at college.

His first meal was -

 He asked me if I'd make chicken crescent rolls, but he was super hungry so we opted for easy yumminess.

 He likes a lot of ketchup and mustard, fyi.

If I were a photographer, I could make the food look this good. But, it really does taste as incredible as it looks! Oh man, I want it right now...

We had a very relaxed Thanksgiving Day. We, of course, had to have our annual family turkey trot. The boys were less than enthusiastic, but they came.

Then Mark and I prepared the feast!

 The best turkey we've ever made, seriously!!

It really was too pretty to eat, though. But we ate in anyway :).

 Traditional shot...I should find a whole bunch of these and post them as comparison. I think I will...

I think this was Friday, oh, yes, I see the leftover waffles in the background. This must be the post waffle football watching position.

Then we went for a hike in the preserve.

Pennie absolutely loves it down there but we don't like to take her because she has gotten tics down there. It must've been cool enough because she didn't get any.

 Skipping rocks...

This is sniffing paradise for dogs. She's crazy happy down there. She got a bath when we got home.

Mark, Cody and Jayce took another hike on Saturday.

 Duck pond I didn't know existed. 

 King of the hill. Kind of looks like Pride Rock in the Lion King.

Derek flew back to Idaho on Saturday afternoon. It was great to have him home. We'll get to see him and Cait & Bill in only three more weeks!! 

Funny Jayce!

Jayce lost another tooth! He wiggled that thing for days! Finally, on Friday night, he asked Mark to yank it out. And then he cowered and said he changed his mind. An hour of waffling back and forth, and then Mark gently popped it out by grabbing it with a paper towel. Whew! Jayce was super excited, though.

 He was concerned about putting it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. He wrote her this note. It says, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I want to share it at school so just give me the dollar and I will give you the tooth next week. Love, Jayson" And, then, the Tooth Fairy must've had a busy night because he came in early on Saturday morning, crying. No dollar. But, luckily we found it had fallen back behind his pillow and the tooth was still there!

 Saturday morning we had pumpkin pancakes. Mark and I loved them, and the big surprise was Cody did, too.

This morning was kind of chilly in the house, like always. And Jayce wanted me to put every blanket on him I could find. Funny kid! At least he was warm!

Sweet Sixteen!

For Cody's birthday he wanted to take a couple of friends to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We thought it might rain, and it did a little, but it was a super fun day! All the boys said several times "This is a good day!"

Waiting outside before it opened at 10:30.

Jayce outside of the Goliath ride. (He and I spent a lot of time waiting for the boys to ride rides.)

You can't see them, but these are our boys on the first drop on Goliath.

Collossus. This was Jayce's first ride.

The Scream. Man, I'm glad I was watching from the ground!

Outside the Batman ride. Cody got super sick on this one, and then went to ride Goliath and got even sicker. He had to lie down for like an hour! Keanan and Mikael went over to ride superman (I should've gotten a picture of that ride...it is unbelievable!)

Jayce on the swing ride. He said it was boring, but he was smiling the whole time!

 After Cody recovered, and we were trying to find Keanan and Mikael, we found this climbing wall. If they could get to the top of the "Expert" wall (far right), they could win an ipod shuffle. Cody gave it a valiant effort, but didn't get it. (There was a lot of dust on the ipod shuffle; I don't think anyone ever wins that.)

 Capes they were awarded for attempting the climbing wall!

On our way home we stopped at Chik-fil-a. Yum! These are some really fun guys to be around...

...As you can see.

 Waking up the birthday boy on Sunday morning.... Sure love this kid!

Jayce was sleeping in our bed. I can't resist getting a picture of him when he's sleeping.

Pennie was pacing because she knew there were presents downstairs.

The Birthday breakfast!! French toast! (Which didn't turn out very good, I might add.) The boys weren't quite awake.

Texas Sheet Cake for his birthday cake. Yum! And fun! Grandpa, Grandma, and Jeff came down for the birthday celebration and Cody's ordination in the Priesthood.

 Card from G&G.

Pennie helping open Cody's presents.

RVCA Hoodie!

What a fun weekend! You know, when Caitlin left for college, I thought, "What am I going to do? What will we do without Caitlin at home because she is such a big help and a great example for her brothers?" But then Derek stepped up and took on the leadership role and I was so grateful. Then, when Derek left for college I worried again, "What are we going to do without Derek and his leadership?" I have to say, that Cody has stepped up and is being more than I could have hoped. He plays with Jayce, loves him, and helps around the house. And we still laugh, a lot. I am so blessed.


Happy Birthday, Cody! Thanks for being you!